Thanks to more exports and the success of the dairy-to-beef breeding programme, Colorado’s dairy industry should still be strong in 2023.
Last week, on “Dairy Day” at the Colorado Farm Show in Greeley, a number of speakers talked about the challenges facing the state’s growing dairy farms. The U.S. Farm Data Service says that there are 303 dairies in the state of Colorado. Logan County has 13 dairies, making it the third largest dairying county in Colorado after Weld, which has 78, and Morgan, which has 17.
Even though Americans are eating more dairy than they have in 60 years, the demand for plain white milk keeps going down.
Bill Keating from Dairy MAX told the crowd that overall dairy consumption would rise by more than 1% from 2019 to 2021, with cheese, butter, and yoghurt seeing the biggest rises. Keating said that the average American eats about 40 pounds of cheese in different forms every year.
On the other hand, as families shrink, less white milk is being bought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that the amount of white milk people drink has dropped by almost half since 1970.
“Families are having fewer children, and that’s been reflected in the number of deliveries to schools,” Keating said. “At home, parents are looking for alternatives, like almond and soy products, or other fluids altogether.”
People may be moving away from white milk because of a new focus on health and happiness, which is mostly a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As a response to the pandemic and the uncertainty and change in the world, there is a strong desire to be happy,” Keating said. “This means that consumers will take steps to improve their own health and well-being.”
This trend is happening all over the world, not just in the U.S., and it is increasing the demand for dairy fats like butter, cream, whole milk powder, and anhydrous milk fat, which are used in many consumer products.
Megan Sheets of the U.S. Dairy Export Council told the group that taste is the main reason people buy cheese around the world, and that different parts of the world like different tastes and textures. In Korea, for example, people like cheeses that are milkier and creamier, while people in the Middle East like cheeses that have sharper flavours and are a little bit drier.
Sheets said that the U.S. has about 25% of the world market for dairy products, and that 18% of the mill production in the U.S. goes to other countries.
Consumers want to know more about dairy than just what they can get from it. They also want to know about how it affects the environment.
Sheets said, “There is a growing agreement around the world that sustainability is important.” “That means being kind to the environment, using renewable energy, and recycling as much as possible. On dairy farms, there is also a lot of care for the animals.
Vice President of American AgCredit Brian Larson said that the economic outlook for dairy farms is good. He said that the number of cows in the U.S. dairy herd has stayed the same at about 9.4 million, and he said again that cheese is still one of the biggest sources of income in the industry. Larson said that the average price of a hundred pounds of milk should be in the low $20 range. He also said that the prices of feed and alfalfa may go up a little bit, but they will soon level off.
After the morning sessions on Wednesday, there was a legislative update and a talk about getting more beef from dairy herds.
